Marine briefing gives rare glimpse into effort

Kandahar, Afghanistan  The guns and ammunition were expected. The poster of New York's Twin Towers set against Afghan mountains was not.

U.S. Marines who joined elite Navy SEALS in searching al-Qaida caves said Saturday they made some unsettling discoveries: a photo of President Bush with blood running down his face and another of Osama bin Laden holding a Kalashnikov rifle and marked with the words "Leader of Peace."

The Marines' accounts, given during interviews at the U.S. military base here in southern Afghanistan, provided a rare glimpse into the cave-by-cave war being waged by U.S. forces hunting for elusive al-Qaida and Taliban fighters and any tidbits of information about bin Laden's worldwide terrorist network.

With the Taliban ousted from power and hiding out in Afghanistan's rugged mountains and valleys, U.S. bombing is winding down. Instead, the battle against terrorism has shifted to the painstaking search of caves and other remote locations for al-Qaida and Taliban renegades as well as intelligence information to prevent further terrorist attacks.

It's dangerous, daunting work.

Marines described the cave complex they searched this month as elaborately constructed. Reinforced with concrete and tall enough to walk freely around, the caves had an irrigation system to water trees and flowers.

"It didn't look like a cave. Someone put some time into this place," said Sgt. Charles Calfee, 28, of Dublin, Va. "It reminded me of the Flintstones."

Originally, the 50 Marines from Lima Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/6 of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit were flown to the caves in the area between Khost and Gardez in eastern Afghanistan to guard the SEALS while they searched.

The SEALS, along with special forces from the Army and Air Force and CIA operatives, are taking a lead in the current phase of the Afghan conflict, which began after the U.S.-backed northern alliance routed the Taliban in last year's fighting.

The mission was meant to last 10 hours. Instead, it took several days and the SEALS overwhelmed with the amount of intelligence information they found had to enlist the Marines in their search.

"Every day we found more," said 1st Sgt. Joseph Bolton, of Gillette, Wyo.

The Marines, stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., refused to reveal the exact location of or give details about the caves. They also would not say what type of information or how many weapons and rounds of ammunition were found.

Marines spokesman 1st Lt. James Jarvis said the data are being analyzed and could help American forces find suspected Taliban and al-Qaida.

"Obviously it's still early in the campaign," Jarvis said. "There are still Taliban and al-Qaida forces in the region."